1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of disk drives and more particularly to cartridge disk drives.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
When cartridge disk drive cartridges are mounted on the spindle of the disk drive the cartridge housing which normally connects to the hub upon which the individual disks are mounted must be separated from the hub to allow free rotation of the hub on the spindle. In this regard disk drive designs have included stops mounted on the spindle housing which abut aganst the bottom of the cartridge housing forcing it up a small distance to create a running clearance between the cartridge housing and a flange mounted on the disk hub.
During operation of the disk drive, the spinning of the hub and disk creates a centrifugal pumping action which creates a partial vacumn in the area of the hub, this in turn causes air to be drawn in between the cartridge housing and hub flange through the running clearance space. Unless the abutment between the spindle housing stops and the bottom of the cartridge is airtight, dirty, unfiltered outside air is drawn into the vicinity of the hub through this running clearance and can degrade the performance of the disk drive over time.